Spring Onion and Shallots Strategic Agrichemical Review Process 2011-2014 HAL Projects - MT10029 & VG12081 AgAware Consulting Pty Ltd Checkbox 3D Pty Ltd March 2014 Horticulture Australia project no: MT10029 – Managing pesticide access in horticulture. VG12081 - Review of vegetable SARP reports. Contact: Noelene Davis Checkbox 3D Pty Ltd PO Box 187 Beecroft NSW 2119 Ph: 0424 625 267 Email: [email protected] Purpose of the report: This report was funded by Horticulture Australia and the Australian vegetable industry to investigate the pest problem, agrichemical usage and pest management alternatives for the spring onion and shallots industries across Australia. The information in this report will assist the industry with its agrichemical selection and usage into the future. Funding sources: MT10029 - This project has been funded by HAL using the vegetable industry levy and across industry funds with matched funds from the Australian Government. VG12081 - This project has been funded by HAL using the vegetable industry levy and matched funds from the Australian Government. Date of report: 14 March 2014 Disclaimer: Any recommendations contained in this publication do not necessarily represent current Horticulture Australia Ltd policy. No person should act on the basis of the contents of this publication without first obtaining independent professional advice in respect of the matters set out in this publication. Contents 1. MEDIA SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................. 2 2. THE AUSTRALIAN SPRING ONION AND SHALLOT INDUSTRIES ........................................................................... 3 3. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................. 3 3.1 BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 3.2 MINOR-USE PERMITS AND REGISTRATION ..................................................................................................................... 4 3.3 METHODS .............................................................................................................................................................. 4 3.4 RESULTS ................................................................................................................................................................ 4 4. PESTS AND DISEASES OF SPRING ONION AND SHALLOTS .................................................................................. 5 4.1 DISEASES OF SPRING ONION AND SHALLOTS................................................................................................................... 5 4.1.1 High priority diseases ................................................................................................................................. 5 4.1.2 Summary .................................................................................................................................................... 9 4.2 INSECTS OF SPRING ONION AND SHALLOTS .................................................................................................................. 11 4.2.1 High priority insects .................................................................................................................................. 11 4.2.2 Summary .................................................................................................................................................. 14 4.3 WEEDS OF SPRING ONION AND SHALLOTS .................................................................................................................. 16 5. REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................................... 18 Information: ....................................................................................................................................................... 18 Acronyms ........................................................................................................................................................... 18 Acknowledgement ............................................................................................................................................. 18 6. APPENDICES ..................................................................................................................................................... 19 Spring onion and shallot SARP 2014 Page 1 1. Media Summary A Strategic Agrichemical Review Process (SARP) through the process of a desktop audit and industry liaison assesses the importance of the diseases, insects and weeds (plant pests) that can affect a horticultural industry; evaluates the availability and effectiveness of fungicides, insecticides and herbicides (pesticides) to control the plant pests; determines any ‘gaps’ in the pest control strategy and identifies suitable new or alternatives pesticides to address the gaps. Alternative pesticides should ideally be selected for benefits of: Integrated pest management (IPM) compatibility Improved scope for resistance management Sound biological profile Residue and trade acceptance domestically and for export. SARP workshops for spring onions and shallots were conducted in Queensland, South Australia and Victoria as part of combined vegetable meetings in 2008, 2010 and 2011. The results of the process provide the spring onion and shallots industries with pesticide options for the future that the industry can pursue for registration with the manufacturer, or minor-use permits with the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Association (APVMA). DISEASE Diseases identified as high priorities: Disease (common name) Disease (scientific name) Grey mould Botrytis spp. Downy mildew Peronospora destructor White rot Sclerotium cepivorum Very few fungicides are registered for control of disease in spring onions and shallots. Extension of registrations for onions and other alliums would be helpful. There is also some new chemistry, particularly for downy mildew, that should be considered. INSECTS Insects identified as high priorities: Insect (common name) Insect (scientific name) Onion thrips Thrips tabaci Western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis There are few insecticides registered or permitted for use in spring onion and shallots. The impact of financial return, as a driver of research and development choices for product registrants, is evident in these minor crops – the cost of the efficacy and residue data packages required relative to the value of the potential chemical sales are usually too high to justify the work. The most straight forward means of increasing options for growers would be to extend registrations in other alliums to spring onion and shallots. WEEDS No weeds were reported as a high priority for new registrations or permits. Most weeds can be controlled with currently available herbicides but growers would welcome inclusion of spring onions and shallots in new chemical registrations. Growers reported that a pre-plant herbicide, generally a knock-down, was used to prepare the paddock. Growers then usually only spot spray grass weeds with a grass selective herbicide. Spring onion and shallot SARP 2014 Page 2 2. The Australian spring onion and shallot industries The Australian spring onion and shallot industry is a small horticultural industries. Consumption of spring onion and shallots has risen in recent years with the growth in healthier lifestyles and moves to fresh food. Accurate statistics on spring onion and shallot production is not available, but it is known to be grown in reasonable quantities at: Melbourne Metro area (Vic) Lockyer Valley (QLD) Perth Metro outer areas (WA) North Adelaide Plains (SA) Sydney Basin (NSW) The spring onion species referred to in this report is Allium fistuolosum, and are also known as Welsh bunching onion or Japanese bunching onion. The shallot species referred to in this report is Allium cepa var. aggregatum , or A. ascalonicum, and are also known as multiplier onion. The common names, spring onion and shallots, are often interchangeable depending on which state you are from, eg. in Victoria, spring onion (A. fistuolosum) is called shallots in Queensland and vice versa. Due to Australia’s varying weather conditions and the introduction of different varieties of spring onion and shallots, the Australian industries is now able to supply domestic markets with fresh spring onion and shallots throughout the year. 3. Introduction 3.1 Background Growers of some horticultural crops suffer from a lack of legal access to crop protection products (pesticides). The problem may be that whilst a relatively small crop area is valuable in an agricultural sense, it is not of sufficient size for agchem manufacturers to justify the expense of registering a product use on that crop. Alternately, the disease, pest, or weed problem may be regional or spasmodic, making agchem companies unwilling to bear the initial high cost of registering suitable pesticides. As an added complication some horticultural crops may be grown in protected cropping or hydroponic situations. These can have a significant impact on pesticide performance and residue outcomes, further increasing product development requirements and registration costs. Growers